Oman’s debut sovereign sukuk sets precedent

Author: Lizzie Meager | Published: 28 Oct 2015

The Omani government this week priced its first ever
sovereign sukuk, sending a strong signal to its
domestic market that it supports the development of Islamic
finance.

The 200 million rial ($520 million) benchmark issuance took
on an ijara structure – meaning it is backed
by government-owned land – for a tenor of five
years.

Jonathan Fried, head of Middle East capital markets at
Linklaters who advised the government’s
Ministry of Finance on the issuance, said its purpose is to
incite both Oman’s capital markets and its Islamic
finance industry.